History of Bohemia Part III - Heresy in the Golden Age

The Holy Roman Empire was neither Holy nor Roman nor an Empire. - Voltaire

Golden Seal of Emperor Charles IV

So I have covered ancient history and the early middle ages, the next period is regarded as the golden age of Bohemia. It was the age during which this small region became the seat of Europe's largest empire. Prague and Bohemia flourished like never before or since. This was the result of the accomplishments of a man who was half Bohemian through his mother yet favored her heritage over his fathers. Charles IV was arguably the most powerful Czech who ever lived.

This is not a European history blog so I am not going to recount the long, tedious fascinating history of the Holy Roman Empire but I think some background is helpful in order to set the stage for this next chapter in Bohemian history. The HRE was founded about 800 AD when Charlemagne was crowned and lasted one thousand years until Napoleon defeated its armies in 1806. In theory, it was holy because of the blessing of the pope, Roman because it was said to derive its legitimacy from Ancient Rome, and an empire because, well, I don't really know. Lots of kingdoms, I suppose. It reached its peak of expansion and power in the 1200s.  At the time of Charles IV, it encompassed modern Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Northern Italy. It was comprised of several kingdoms including the Kingdom of Bohemia as well as numerous duchies, bishoprics, electorates, and so on. In other words, it was something of a hodgepodge of entities as reflected by the map below. I find it interesting, though, that Bohemia was a such a large homogenous piece compared to the adjacent German jigsaw puzzle. The manner in which the emperor was chosen was not what one might expect. It was an elected office with papal blessing. However, it was a rather dubious democracy as there were only nine (sometimes seven) people whose votes counted. These were the prince electors and archbishops. The power and influence of the emperor seems to have waxed and waned throughout its history and was heavily dependent on alliances even as a constant push back from kings, dukes, princes, and bishops to resist authority probably forever limited the influence that the empire might have had. Finally, although the empire was Catholic in origin, the Protestant reformation created much internal strife within it's lands that prevented it from ever being fully unified and likely contributed to it ultimate demise. And that, is my one paragraph summary of a millennium of Central European history. Never let it be said that I don't value brevity! Now to more pertinent events for our purpose.

Holy Roman Empire under Charles IV

Charles was born in 1316 in Prague. He was House Luxemburg through his father and House Premysl through his mother. I mentioned in my last article on Bohemia history that the Premysl line had ended. Charles was not considered a Premysl because his lineage passed through his mother which was the standard of that paternalistic age. He started his climb to the top of the imperial hill by inheriting Luxemburg after his father's death and was then crowned King of Bohemia in 1347. He subsequently outmaneuvered his princely rivals to accumulate more titles necessary to claim the emperorship including King of the Romans, King of Italy and King of Burgundy. He managed to do all of this while facing fierce opposition from his predecessor, Emperor Louis VII. Fortune favors the bold, though, and Charles' fortune grew greatly thanks to Louis' untimely death after suffering a stroke while hunting bear. Charles was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1355. 

Charles IV bust in St. Vitus Cathedral

As I have noted, Charles was very likely the greatest King of Bohemia. He established Prague as the capital of the Holy Roman Empire and embarked on period of construction and structural improvement in the city modeled on Paris. Most visitors find Prague to be one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. This is in no small part due to Charles. His improvements included the Nové Město (New Town) district, the Prague Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral, and the scenic Charles Bridge He founded the first university in Central Europe, which was later named for him, Charles University. As a result of his efforts and the general prosperity associated with being the imperial seat, Prague emerged as the intellectual and cultural center of Central Europe. Beyond Bohemia, he issued the Golden Bull of 1356 which set a constitutional structure for the Holy Roman Empire that would last for 400 years until its end. Charles' rein ended with his death in 1378 and so also ended Prague's period of prominence. One of his sons would later also be elected Emperor but Prague was never again the capital.

Charles Bridge in Prague

Charles IV typically ranks quite high amongst Czechs when surveyed about the greatest Czechs in history. He is honored with statues and namesake structures through the modern Czech Republic. Also, his brilliant rise to the seat of power over the entirety of the medieval Germanic nation-states would ultimately earn him that most coveted of all possible honors: a wax figure at the famed Madame Tussaud's Museum, an honor he shares with Dwayne 'the Rock' Johnson, Lady Gaga and the Spice Girls. 

Charles IV wax figure

However, Charles has a near contemporary who challenges him for that title. This person ironically arose from the faculty of Charles University to become one of the most important figures in Bohemian history. This was Johanne / Jan Hus. 

Unlike Charles, Hus was born to poor peasants. He had little prospect in life except a desire to serve the church and a remarkable willingness to speak truth to power. He applied for for the Catholic priesthood and was ordained and, as a result, was able to obtain a bachelor's degree. He began his ministry in Prague which was, shall we say, "unorthodox" (pun intended) for a priest. That's because he set about attacking the clergy, bishops, and even the pope for their moral failings. He embraced the teachings of John Wycliffe, the English dissident priest, who denounced many core Catholic teachings including transubstantiation, veneration of saints, and even the legitimacy of the pope. Hus teachings subsequently earned him promotions at the university until he chaired the philosophy department. I think we can safely assume that his fellow faculty members were not so enamored with the pope or the Catholic faith.

Jan Hus

Hus was theologically influential on Central Europeans at the dawn of the Reformation and he gathered a large following within Bohemia. Hussitism, as it was known, would become the majority church in Bohemia until the Hapsburgs took control in the 17th century. His teachings were extremely influential on Martin Luther a century later. However, it was probably his manner of death that elevated him to a national Czech hero. That story starts with the pope, actually, three popes, all of whom claimed the papacy at the same time. 

At the beginning of the 15th century, a schism occurred during which Pope Gregory XII and Antipopes Benedict XIII of France and Alexander V of Pisa (who had been ordained a bishop exactly one day before his election to papacy) simultaneously claimed the title. The dispute devolved into threats of war and of crusades which required resources. One of the chief sources of funding became the sale of indulgences, particularly by Antipope John XXIII (Alexander's successor). King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia was angling to be Holy Roman Emperor and thought his best chance lie with John XXIII so he ordered his bishops to sell the indulgences to fund crusades. Indulgence sale then became a big business in Bohemia. Hus would not go along and strongly condemned the practice as corruption which made him many enemies.

In 1415 Antipope John XXIII called for the Council of Constance in order to resolve the competing claims to the papacy and avoid schism. Hus was invited and agreed to attend with a letter assuring safe conduct issued by the King Sigismund of Hungary who supported the Council. Initially, he was allowed free movement and participated in the council but within a few weeks he was imprisoned and charged with heresy. His protector, Sigismund, was convinced by Hus' enemies to abandon his guarantee of protection on the basis that he was not bound by promises made to a heretic. In the months that followed, Hus was tried and found guilty of heresy but also repeatedly asked to recant in order to save his life. Ultimately he was condemned to death at the stake although given on last opportunity to recant just before the bonfire was lit. He died without recanting.

Hus' execution

Hus' execution outraged Bohemia. After Hus was executed, the Hussites refused to elect another Catholic monarch and defeated five consecutive papal crusades between 1420 and 1431ordered to attempt to restore Catholicism in Bohemia. Hussitism, thus, had a far more nationalistic character than Lutheranism or other European reformation movements ever had. Both the Bohemian and the Moravian populations remained majority Hussite until the 1620s, when a Protestant defeat in the Battle of the White Mountain resulted in the lands of the Bohemian Crown coming under Habsburg dominion for the next 300 years and the Bohemian people being subject to immediate and forced conversion in an intense campaign of return to Catholicism. The Battle of White Mountain is one of the most significant events in Czech history. It was one of the earliest battles of the Thirty Years War that engulfed most of Europe in the mid 1600s. It was also a horrific loss from the standpoint of preserving Czech national identity. In America, we have Civil War reenactments, in the Czech Republic they have White Mountain reenactments. I posted a short documentary of the battle if you have interest. (Warning, it gets a bit nerdy with the graphics and battle details).

What followed the battle was two centuries of recatholicization of the Czech lands, the decline of the Czech-speaking aristocracy and elite, and relegation of the Czech language in favor of German in the power centers of the Austrian-Hungary empire. This process was only slowed by the Czech National Revival starting in the late 18th century. Czech nationalist historians and writers have referred to the 17th and 18th century in the Czech lands as the Dark Age.

This entire chapter of history has great relevance to the Czech immigrants to America and the Vokoun family. Unlike Irish, Italians, and Poles, Catholicism was not viewed by many of our Czech forebears as part of their national heritage. Hence, the indifference towards the Catholic faith, the presence of Czech Protestants and the prominence of Freethinkers among Chicago's Czech immigrant population. Even the fact that so many family members are buried in the Bohemian National Cemetery as opposed to a Catholic cemetery seems connected to this history. The Vokoun children displayed all these perspectives Some persisted in adherence to the Catholic faith, others became Protestant or others non-religious. The family is a reflection of our Czech identity.